August 16, 1859: The birth of the Swedish pastor, Carl Boberg, who wrote the original poem "Oh Great God" which was then set to music and eventually translated by Stuart K. Hines into the very well-known hymn "How Great Thou Art".

Oh, Great God.

When I the world consider
Which Thou has made by Thine almighty Word
And how the webb of life Thy wisdom guideth
And all creation feedeth at Thy board.

Refrain:
Then doth my soul burst forth in song of praise
Oh, great God
Oh, great God.

August 17, 1775: "Anglican clergyman and hymnwriter John Newton wrote in a letter: 'It is no great matter where we are, provided we see that the Lord has placed us there, and that He is with us.'" (StudyLight.org)

August 18, 1688: "John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim's Progress preaches his last sermon, in London" (see issue 11: John Bunyan). (ChristianHistory.net) Of all the books I read over the years, the message in Pilgrims' Progress has stayed with me better than perhaps any other.

August 19,1662 : "Death of Blaise Pascal, French scientist and Christian apologist, famous for his apologetics and his argument that it makes more sense to wager on the existence of God than against him." (ChristianHistory.org)

August 21,1732: "Count von Zinzendorf commends Leonard Dober and David Nitschmann to God as the first Moravian missionaries." (CHO)

August 22, 1433: " Paul Craw (Pavel Kravar) Bohemian Hussite is burned to death in Market Street before St. Andrews in Scotland, the first martyr so burned. A brass ball has been placed in his mouth so he cannot testify to the crowd." (CHO)

"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root". Henry D. Thoreau.

August 23, 1572: "Catherine de Medici sends her son, young King Charles IX of France, into a panic with threats of an imminent Huguenot (French Protestant) insurrection. Frenzied, he yelled, "Kill them all! Kill them all!" In response, Catholics in Paris butchered the Huguenots who had come to the city for a royal wedding. Between 5,000 and 10,000 Protestants died in the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre." (ChristianHistory.net)

August 25, 1732: "Missionaries Leonhard Dober and David Nitschmann receive the blessing of Bishop Zinzindorf as they leave for Copenhagen en route to their work in the Caribbean." (ChristianHistoryInstitute.org)

August 26, 1956: "Swedish Christian statesman Dag Hammarskjald recorded in his devotional journal (Markings): 'Bless your uneasiness as a sign that there is still life in you.'" (StudyLight.org)

August 27, 1660: "Charles II, newly restored to the throne, orders the works of poet John Milton (who supported the Parliament) to be burned by royal decree. Milton though imprisoned for a short while, continues work on his masterpiece, Paradise Lost." (ChristianityToday.com)

August 28, 430: "As Vandals invade Roman North Africa and overwhelm Hippo refugees,Augustine dies of a fever. Miraculously, his writings, including City of God survived the Vandal takeover, and his theology became one of the main pillars on which the church of the next 1,000 years was built." (CT.com)

August 29, 29: "Since the fifth century, tradition has this as the date for the beheading of John the Baptist." (CT.com)

September 6, 1837: "Oberlin Collegiate Institute in Ohio granted equal status to men and women, the first American college to do so. This milestone for women was a direct result of Christian ideals..." (Christianity.com)

The true Christian faith lived out in practical terms and fully Biblical application has always resulted in improved conditions for the society it which it is rooted.

Also from the article, this foundational truth: "Asa Mahan, a well-known holiness leader, was Oberlin's first president. Under his direction, the school taught that Christian conversion should be linked with a commitment to a changed society. Holiness should be the mark of every Christian, and this holy character should result in personal actions to reform society."

Where would Mahan get such an idea? Well, maybe from what Jesus said - “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people. You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden." (Matthew 5:13, 14, NET)

What was the context for these words? To whom was Jesus speaking? He was speaking to a crowd of the curious who had gathered to hear him. The message he gave we now know as the Sermon on the Mount. In this sermon Jesus described in clear detail how the lives of those who follow him will be different from the society which rejects him and his teaching.

His instructive words to the hearers addressed anger and murder, adultery, divorce, oaths, retaliation and love for enemies, to borrow the headings found in the NET passage linked below -

Today, many preachers give out a bastardized version of the meaning of grace and forgiveness, saying that since Jesus died for our sins, we are no longer accountable for our actions after we accept his sacrifice. Not according to Jesus ("Think not that I came to abolish the Law...") or to Asa Mahan who would have understood this passage to mean that discipleship makes a difference, first in the person and then in broader society. Because if there is no difference, what good is the Gospel message?

Jesus said that when those who are called his followers no longer make a difference, they are of no value and will be trampled underfoot by the rest of society!

What does it mean that the distinctions between the "churched" and the "unchurched" have pretty well eroded to nothing? When we see little difference in the matters of "anger and murder, adultery, divorce, oaths, retaliation and love for enemies"?

Since there is no longer much difference, should the church be surprised to find itself under increased attacks from a Godless society? That it feels the pain of being trampled underfoot by those who hate what we are to represent?

Oh well, maybe Jesus didn't mean those words for our day. Or did he? What does "Salt and Light" look like today?

September 13,1845: "William Walford's hymn, "Sweet Hour of Prayer," first appeared in print in the "New York Observer." Walford (1772-1850), a blind lay preacher, had written the poem three years earlier in the village of Coleshill, England" (studylight.org)

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
That calls me from a world of care,
And bids me at my Father’s throne
Make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
My soul has often found relief,
And oft escaped the tempter’s snare,
By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
The joys I feel, the bliss I share,
Of those whose anxious spirits burn
With strong desires for thy return!
With such I hasten to the place
Where God my Savior shows His face,
And gladly take my station there,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
Thy wings shall my petition bear
To Him whose truth and faithfulness
Engage the waiting soul to bless.
And since He bids me seek His face,
Believe His Word and trust His grace,
I’ll cast on Him my every care,
And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
May I thy consolation share,
Till, from Mount Pisgah’s lofty height,
I view my home and take my flight.
This robe of flesh I’ll drop, and rise
To seize the everlasting prize,
And shout, while passing through the air,
“Farewell, farewell, sweet hour of prayer!”

Wow. I hit "replay"!

The words in this poem/hymn indicate that the writer knew something of troubles and the relief that comes from spending significant time in sharing those troubles the One who hears and sees all that we encounter. And the nature of the words would indicate that the writer was referring to personal prayer time, in contrast to corporate prayer as in a public meeting of believers.

There is no other place that we can go to that brings the kind of help that we can find by confiding in our heavenly Father.

"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root". Henry D. Thoreau.

September 20, 1947: "English apologist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter: 'Those who suffer the same things from the same people for the same Person can scarcely not love each other.'" (Studylight.org)

September 20,1948: "American missionary Jim Elliot -- eight years before his martyrdom at the hands of the Auca Indians of Ecuador -- penned in his journal: 'I am Thine at terrible cost to Thyself. Now Thou must become mine -- as Thou didst not attend to the price, neither would I.'" (SLO)

These quotes from two believers who lived in the not-so-distant past underscore one fundamental truth - there is one Lord, one Savior, one blood shed for all who will accept the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. Times change and cultures swing from one change or excess to another, but the Living Word remains constant, always sustaining those who believe in His name.

Perhaps one of the best "historical" and memorable statements given in this thread was this:

Shortgrass wrote:May 3, 2015: Shortgrass encouraged by being reminded of God's greatness in the past, and further encouraged by the thought that He is by no means done working in the lives of sinful men.

Reviewing history can be beneficial, but nothing speaks louder than a current testimony like Shortgrass gave with those few words!

After almost 5 years of posting here, I am taking a break from regularly making weekly posts. There may be an occasional submission - no concrete plans right now.

Thanks for reading.

John.

"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root". Henry D. Thoreau.

Dec. 3, 1902: Birth of Mitsuo Fuchida, the pilot who flew the lead plane in Japan's air attack on Pearl Harbor (12/7/1941). Following WWII, through representatives of the Pocket Testament League, Fuchida was converted to Christianity in 1950.

December 30, 1944, Corrie Ten Boom is mistakenly released from Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. Her summation of her experience in the prison camp was this: “You can never learn that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have.”

March 6, 1919: "Death of Julia H. Johnston, 70, American Presbyterian Sunday School leader. She penned about 500 hymns during her lifetime, one of which is still sung today: "Grace Greater Than Our Sin" (a.k.a. "Marvelous Grace of our Loving Lord")." (StudyLight.org)

Sometimes the gifts left to us by others come from their deep suffering, as in the case of this beautiful classic hymn - "Oh, Love that will not let me go." The imagery painted in these words is incredible, and none more so than the last verse.

June 6, 1882: "On the day of his sister’s marriage, blind parson George Matheson experiences deep mental suffering, and writes his beloved hymn, “O Love that wilt not let me go.”" (Christianhistoryinstitute.org)